Autobrand
by TCFactory
Summary: Spoilers for Dark Cybetron Finale! I've been spending ridiculous amount of time trying to wrap my mind around what was going through Megatron's head in the last few issues. Then someone pointed out that Ravage was there on the last page and it spawned this.


**A/N:** This won't make sense if you didn't read the comics. I wrote it around 1 AM, so it's possible that it won't make much sense anyway. Enjoy!

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After the announcement Megatron was left alone in his new, temporary quarters - sparsely furnished, but it was quiet with a huge window to the stars. Just what he needed.

Lights dimmed, Megatron sat silently in the dark, staring out at the star fields. On the far left he could still see Cybertron as it was slowly swallowed by the singularity. If the scientists were to be trusted, it will stop expanding in a few days, but it would be too late by then. Cybertron, their planet, their home, will be gone. In a sense, the planet was lost for a long time, but somehow the fact that physically it was still out there felt right; a hope that maybe someday some way, they will rebuilt their civilisation. And now even that hope was lost.

There was a minute, barely perceivable shift in the shadows and despite his grim thoughts, Megatron's mouth stretched into a grim smile.

"I knew you would come," he told the empty hab. suite, still facing the stars."You have questions, I expect."

The darkness shifted and sure enough, there stood Ravage, his smouldering optics trailed on Megatron.

"Why?" he asked, half a plea and half a demand. Angry. Confused. _Betrayed._ "Why?"

And finally, Megatron moved, turned to face him, Bumblebee's badge still fastened to his chassis. The big mech gestured at it, fingers touching the melted edges of the metal. His voice was calm as he spoke, almost pensive.

"Tell me, Ravage, what you see here."

"It's the autobrand!" The cybercat spat with a growl. "The mark of our enemies!"

"Ah, yes. In a sense, you are correct. It is indeed the symbol of the Autobots, the Prime-sympathisers. Once the Senate and its fake Primes bore this brand as they ground the masses into the dirt. But are Optimus Prime's Autobots the same enemy?"

"Of course they are! We've been fighting them for millennia!"

"And what good had the endless war brought us?," Megatron thundered, matching the cybercat's snarl with a snarl of his own. "Cybertron is gone, our society is in shambles, the economy, our culture was reduced to nothing and the remaining population lives as outcasts, scattered across the galaxy. This is not what the Revolution was about. Not what we were fighting for." _Not what I wanted_. It remained unsaid, but it was loud in the silence. He wanted equality, he wanted to get out of the shadows and end the oppression. And maybe, if he was honest with himself, he wanted to be a hero; someone important, respected in the new order. He didn't want to be the one responsible for their extinction.

He took a deep intake of air, voice turning bitter.

"The Revolution reigned victorious when the last of the corrupt Senate was ground to dust under our heels. There was a brief moment when we could have everything we wanted. When Optimus Prime first proposed to open up peace negotiation, we should have accepted. We could have been everybody's heroes. But we were drunk on victory so we kept going, kept fighting the new Prime and his allies; the same title, the same badge, but not the same mech or the same ideology. The memory of our oppression, the horrors of the Senate was still too fresh, too vivid, that caught up in our bloodlust, we didn't notice that we weren't fighting our oppressors anymore."

He leaned back against the glass and for a moment, he looked genuinely tired; he would never break down like Optimus – Orion – had, but even the fire that burned in him all these millennia couldn't protect him completely from the toll of time.

"This war is empty. We lost sight of our cause long ago. We keep going out of petty revenge, striving for a meaningless victory. We fight the Autobots because they are our enemies – and they are our enemies, because we've been fighting them. A vicious, self-sustaining circle that had already cost too much."

"Then what of those who have died? Was their death in vain?" Ravage asked, voice barely more than a whisper.

No verbal answer was needed; the look Megatron gave him was more than enough. The small mech gave a frustrated wail. "This can't be right!"

Megatron turned his gaze back to the stars, optics fixated on Cybertron.

"My chat with Bumblebee was… optic-opening. Our war went terribly wrong – it went so wrong that our people are desperate enough for peace to rally under _Starscream_ of all mechs. We need to stop to think and try to fix things until we can – right now, we are on equal footing, but who knows how long it will last. And there is no time like the present."

He fell silent and for long klicks, neither of them spoke.

"Why the badge?" Ravage hazarded the question, still trying to take in the onslaught of information.

"It is to commemorate Bumblebee and to emphasise that I was serious about my words. I know it is one of my shortcomings, but I have always liked grandiose gestures." The corner of Megatron's mouth twitched in an almost-smirk, memories of his first victory in the arena surfacing." Rest assured, when the right time comes, I will don my Decepticon insignia again and wear it with the same pride I always did. I will make sure that in the new world order, the Decepticons won't fall behind the Autobots. Will you stand with me then?"

Ravage cocked his helm to the side, considering the words.

"I have to discuss this with Soundwave first."

"I understand that this will take time to digest. You may take your leave." The black cat stood and seamlessly melted into the shadows. "But Ravage, one last thing." A shadow wavered in the corner, just by the air duct. "Bring me back Soundwave's answer. He was my first follower; I dare say he is my oldest friend. His word carries meaning to me." The smallest of moves, that could be a certain feline nodding, and then Megatron was all alone again.

He turned back to the grim view, Cybertron's throes of death.

All that's left is to wait and see.

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**A/N: **I hope you enjoyed it. I'm curious how others interpreted the change. I think Bumblebee was the catalyst that caused Megatron to stop and think and reflect - sometimes, we just keep going so our doubts and regrets won't catch up to us. But I don't quite know what was between the two of them, that Megatron went so far to call Bee a friend, so this might have been a shot in the dark. :)

Reviews are much appreciated, I'd love to hear what you think.


End file.
